Baby Brain Gets Real, Says Recent Scientific Research

Previously considered to be a myth, the baby brain concept is now getting a boost as a real phenomenon. Recent study on motherhood conducted by researchers from Deakin University shows that it might be an actual occurrence one of a kind.

Pregnancy turns a mother into shadows of her ‘former self’ as the saying goes. But in reality, it might be an exceptional cognitive dissonance of the mother’s mind. Problems like losing focus, failure in concentrating, and forgetting trivial daily chores are some of the few typical side effects of the “mommy brain”.

Breaking the myth that baby brain makes a mom’s mind sloppy; scientists are now arguing that it might actually heighten cognitive abilities of reason, empathy and judgment. Her mind will get sharper and none of previous ‘old wives’ tale’ is prevalent now.

Researchers are working on this matter so that this controversy could be settled once and for all. More than 70% of mothers have experienced the difficulties of ‘mummy’s amnesia’ during their pregnancy. However, experts have stated these problems to be a result of tiredness and exhaustion’s rather than actual ‘dysfunctionality’ of the brain.

Dr. Melissa Hayden says from recent survey that during the first trimester and second trimester, complexities arise making a mother’s day to day life harder. However, incidents like decreasing performance at work or poor handling of complex jobs are not likely the result of “baby brain”.

Toronto university researcher, Katherine Tombeau Cost speaks about her own personal experience during pregnancy. “My graduate grades remained same during that time and I find no solid evidence that shows proof of cognitive impairment.”

In fact, hyper awareness is a frequent occurring that many pregnant women experience. “They might not perform brilliantly but they perform within a normal range,” says psychologist, Dr. Courtney Filippi. Furthermore, study showed that the impact on a mommy’s life was not as high as what was expected. Memory function remained within a standard range that enabled more or less normalcy in their lives.

Baby brain is now being substantiated as an actual event that states that the reason of such cognitive disability issues is the physical reduction of grey matter during pregnancy proven by scientific research. “Pregnant women allot their mind more towards issues of child upbringing like social cognition and personal bonding,” says expert Linda Byrne.

The topic is still on debate and a lot of arguments have been put forward by psychologists all over the world. Baby brain can occur but it is not so much of a glitch as feared by all soon-to-be-mothers!